[Topical ozone therapy: An innovative solution to patients with herpes zoster].

To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of topical ozone therapy for patients with herpes zoster by reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM).
 Methods: A total of 60 patients with herpes zoster were divided into a control group and an ozone treatment group (n=30). In the control group, patients took oral valacyclovir tablets or granules (0.3 g per day, three times a day) and they were subjected to local weak laser irradiation treatment plus topical 2% mupirocin ointment twice a day. In the ozone group, the treatment is same as the control group except mupirocin ointment was replaced with topical ozone treatment (hydrotherapy every day plus ozonated oil twice a day). The clinical symptoms, discoid cell and adverse reactions were observed and taken records at day 0, 3, 7 and 14. Statistical analysis was performed to compare the clinical efficacy between the 2 groups. 
 Results: On the seventh day of treatment, the discoid cells of the ozone group disappeared, and the difference between the control group and the ozone group was statistically significant (P<0.05). The difference of decreased percentage of pain scores at each time point between the 2 groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). The clinical efficacy was 100% in the ozone group and 86.7% in the control group, with significant difference between the 2 groups (P<0.05).
 Conclusion: Topical ozone therapy in patients with herpes zoster is helpful in relieving pain, shortening the course as well as improving the clinical efficacy without obvious adverse reactions. It is worth to be popularized.